Incarceration statistics

Congressional findings released at the introduction of the Families Beyond Bars Act of 2011, which was not enacted, included the following:

•The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 1.5 million children (a Pew Charitable Trusts report in 2010 estimated that figure to be more than 2.7 million) in the United States have at least one incarcerated parent, and an estimated 10 million more individuals have at least one parent who was incarcerated at some point during the individual's childhood.

•The United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world since 2002, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. While countries comparable to the U.S. tend to incarcerate about 100 prisoners per 100,000 population, the U.S. rate is 500 out of 100,000.

•The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 75 percent of incarcerated women are mothers, two-thirds of them with children under the age of 18. An estimated 32 percent of incarcerated men are fathers of children under the age of 18.

•More than 2.7 million children in America have a parent in prison, according to a 2010 study by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

•Increased visitation between incarcerated parents and their children can reduce the anxiety and sense of loss children of incarcerated parents experience. This beneficial, low-cost activity may also contribute to a reduction in future crime committed by, and incarceration of, children of incarcerated parents.